She Started It – A documentary worth supporting

“The Kauffman Foundation estimates that women have formed only three per cent of all tech start-ups.”She Started It

A couple weeks ago I ran across an inspiring trailer for a new documentary, “She Started It,” and I just had to write about it. I know it’s a little outside my normal topics, but it involves women tech entrepreneurs and I’m running this in lieu of my regular Women Code Hero of the Month column. Read on … I swear it’s worth it!

The documentary, directed and produced by the incredible Nora Poggi and Insiyah Saeed, tells the stories of five passionate young women tech entrepreneurs and spans the course of 2+ years of these womens’ lives as they start their businesses. Their businesses run the gammet, from social mobile apps to online lingerie stores (I said it would be interesting).

It is true that if you don’t see it, you can’t be it (at least for the majority of people). This film shows the fascinating ups and downs of these women’s work. But it also gives an a tangable vision for young girls, to show them that it is possible to be a woman and an entrepreneur.

It helps us all realize that we can step up and tell our impostor voice to go color in the corner while we get on with getting s**t done.

In an interview in Inc. magazine, Poggi gives the following advice to young women entrepreneurs, “Just start! Don’t overthink it. Even if it is small, even if you don’t feel ready, start one step at a time. Don’t give up and trust yourself. You can do it!”

That certainly resonates with me. This past year has held some magical moments for me that would never have happened if I waited till I felt ready for them. Sometimes you have to leap into the void and assume that wings will sprout.

In addition to highlighting these five incredible founders, the film includes interviews with some of my biggest WIT crushes, like Megan Smith (just the CTO of the United States of America!), Ruchi Sangvi (Facebook’s first woman engineer), Debbie Sterling (Founder of Goldie Blox), and Cindy Padnos (Founder of Illuminate Ventures).

Ultimately the filmmakers hope that by “showcasing these role models along with interviews with top experts, we hope that young women would aspire to become entrepreneurs and consider careers in tech, and also educate about how to sustain that career.”

Nora Poggi is a French journalist with a background in film production who has been interviewing key players in Silicon Valley for the past four years. After graduating from French top schools Sciences Po Paris and La Sorbonne, she moved to San Francisco to work for French social network Viadeo.com. She then went back to her first love, films, with the production company Lucky Dragon Productions, where she trained in all areas of film production and promotion. At the same time, she started freelance reporting for Examiner.com on major Silicon Valley events, producing video interviews with tech industry players. She now also writes about entrepreneurship & tech for French newspaper Usine Nouvelle.

About Insiyah Saeed

Insiyah Saeed is a journalist and documentary producer based in Silicon Valley. With a background in storytelling and a passion for women empowerment, Insiyah combines these two passions in her work on She Started It. As an award-winning writer in print, Insiyah has been published in Huffington Post, The New York Sun, The Wall Street Journal, Women 2.0 and other tech blogs. Insiyah is graduate of the Columbia J-School and has worked extensively in film.